THE IMPORTANCE OF LEARNING OF THE MOTHER TONGUE IN AN ADOPTED COUNTRY
SHANTI SENADEERA
It is through language that
we develop our thoughts, shape our experience, explore our customs, structure
our community, construct our laws, articulate our values and give expression to
our hopes and ideas. ‘Mother Tongue is a common language that is freely and
comfortably spoken by adult generation both at home and outside to their
successors in a community and reflect one’s culture and ethnic backgrounds’1.
It is the means by which different groups within the society maintain their
identities. They do this by using the language in a way which is characteristic
of their group and by which they can be identified. Within a multicultural
society such as Australia there exist many subgroups that express their
distinctiveness by particular forms of language freely and commonly used in
their communities.
Encouraging young children
to learn their Mother Tongue would help them to develop confidence, self-esteem
and their unique identity within a multicultural society. It will also provide
answers to many of their questions such as ‘Why I have brown skin?’. In an
increasingly multi-cultural society, the teaching of migrant languages in
schools cannot be isolated from the study of the culture of migrant groups.
Culture and traditions essentially go hand in hand with language.
The anthropologists are of
opinion that the ethnicity is an identifiable feature wherever people choose to
live – may it be the country of origin or a country of adoption. Incidentally
language backgrounds becomes a visible ingredient of ones cultural heritage and
ethnicity.
Australia is one of the
largest adopted countries for migrants which consists of about 150 aboriginal
languages, a number of Aboriginal-English Creoles and over 75 non-Aboriginal
languages which are also known as community or ethnic languages.
The Australian Language and
Literacy Policy (ALLP) formulated under National Policy of Languages has
identified four goals relevant to all sectors of language education. They are :
Languages Other Than English
(LOTE) mentioned above is identified as community languages, which are, called
Mother Tongue in this study.
It is important to learn the
mother tongue in an adopted country like Australia due to several reasons.
By participation in
activities organised around the use of the mother tongue, learners will acquire
communication skills in the language that will enable them to widen their
networks of interpersonal relations. It will enable the learners to use their
mother tongue to establish and maintain good relationships with family members
(specially grandparents) and relatives.
Eg Eleni – Greek, two years
old speaks to her grandparents in Greek and to her parents in English! It will
also be very useful when they visit their country of origin to have direct
access to information.
Learners will develop an
understanding of the culture of the mother tongue language and they can use it
as base for comparison with other cultures. They will thus develop an
appreciation of the validity of different ways of perceiving and encoding
experiences and of organising interpersonal relations to reach a deeper
appreciation of their own personal identity and values. Through mother tongue
children learn the everyday life patterns of their contemporary age-group,
cultural traditional social conventions, historical roots, relationships with
other cultures, cultural achievements, current events and regional and
geographical concepts, historical evidence of civilisation in different
countries including their own. The children who have a cultural identity learn
to stand the pressure from peer group of different cultures in schools, work places
and society.
Languages is a means of
transmitting the cultural traditions of ethnic groups to the second and later
generations. Therefore, by learning the mother tongue it will prevent total
disappearance of certain language and cultures in the world.
The children will gain
knowledge and understanding of a range of subject matter related to their
needs, interest and aspirations, as well as to other areas of their formal
learning.
The learning of mother
tongue will provide an individual the right to study his/her mother tongue and
culture. This will also preserve family bonds and lessening of cultural
conflicts between generations. Learning mother tongue may be an avenue for
occupation of translator, interpreter, or similar occupational pursuit, as well
as useful in trade and commerce. Bilingualism assists the child’s general
intellectual and conceptual development as well.
Learning mother tongue is a
means of increasing appreciation of the multi-cultural nature of the present
Australian society, and maintains its linguistic and cultural diversity.
The objective of learning
mother tongue should be to promote, foster and propagate the cultural heritage,
within the framework of multiculturalism with a view to achieve the goal –
‘unity in diversity’ in a more cohesive, equitable and harmonious Australia.
However, there are several issues and drawbacks that need addressing when
teaching mother tongue in an adopted country. In conclusion I wish to quote
from the speech of Mrs Natasha Post the Executive Director, Ethnic School Board
delivered at the Annual Children’s concert 1995 of the Sinhala schools in NSW.
“The great and the most
powerful gift a parent can give their child is to pass their language and their
culture ….”
References:
1.A National Language Policy for Australia. A Report prepared by
PLANLangPol Committee January 1983.
2.Australia’s Language: Policy Information Paper. The Australian Language and Literacy Policy. August 1991.